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Thursday, March 7, 2013

Pizza Dough Southside Style

I don’t like having a utensil or appliance in my kitchen that doesn’t pull its own weight. Any time I can find a use for something that doesn’t lessen the quality of the finished product I go ahead and make it work for me. My bread machine is a perfect example of this multitasking. Not only does it produce a decent loaf of bread, it can be a time and effort saver when I kneed an extra pair of hands in the kitchen (Pun intended).As a large thick crust pizza this recipe will feed the family; as two 12” thin crust “gourmet” pizzas you can get creative (check out my White Asiago Pizza-ish Food); or you can make 4 individual pizzas and have a topping party.

Plan to start making this dough a couple of days before you’re going to make your pizza. You will get the best results when the dough has risen several times and then rests under refrigeration for at least one day. I like this crust’s texture and flavor when the dough has been refrigerated for two or three days.

Step 2. Set machine for pizza dough or use the standard dough setting with no baking. The complete cycle is typically about 55 minutes long.

Step 3. When the cycle is complete, remove dough to a lightly oiled large glass bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise. Punch the dough down when it reaches the top of the bowl and let rise again. When you punch the dough down for the third time, shape it into a ball and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough to rest overnight. Let the dough come to room temperature before rolling.

Tips and Trending

~For a flavorful change up, substitute 3 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter for the olive oil. Adding a teaspoon of garlic powder in the dough adds another distinctive taste.

~Before baking, you should always dock the dough. This means piercing the rolled out dough with a fork to keep the crust from ballooning while baking.